


World Eater

by TelenNarre



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Other, Post-Season/Series 04, Slow Burn, Space Opera
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-25
Packaged: 2021-03-27 23:01:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30130209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TelenNarre/pseuds/TelenNarre
Summary: With Horde Prime defeated, the Best Friend Squad journeyed into space to bring magic back to the galaxy. At least, that was the best outcome among many that fate could have taken them to.In this reality, when Adora smashes the Sword of Protection, Etheria is instead pulled into a universe with problems far larger than a sadistic Galactic Emperor—a universe where the Hero, the Fallen Friend, and the Once-Queen have no choice but to confront a crisis threatening to undermine the very foundations of reality itself.Etheria is no longer alone in Despondos, and the galaxy is a far more dangerous place than they could have ever imagined.(Post-Season 4 AU)
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Catra & Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 27





	1. Hostages

Glimmer paced the length of her cell and rehearsed for the thousandth time in her head what she would say to the officers that would come with their morning meal.

At least a week had passed since Catra convinced Horde Prime to spare her life. At least a week since both were captured aboard his citadel and thrown in a cell together. No new information about her friends back on Etheria had come, despite her every effort to get any of Prime’s officers to drop so much as a hint. It didn’t matter if they were clone or alien, or even vaguely Etherian looking themselves—no one had said a word.

 _Maybe if I physically get between them and the door when they come in_ , she thought.

Horde Prime had spared them for a reason. He wouldn’t let his prisoners—or ‘guests’ as he liked to call them—be harmed, would he? Glimmer hoped it was the slender looking officers that came today. If it was them, then maybe she’d stand a chance intimidating them; if it were those giant hulking walls of muscle, however? Or worse, if it were Prime’s clones themselves this time around…?

“Do you really have to keep pacing like that?” Catra lay in the bottom bunk of their cell, staring at her as her tail twitched. She was dehydrated, if the vague molasses lilt of her voice gave any indication.

Glimmer tried to ignore her, and instead stared out the large window at the back of their cell. A smattering of stars and nebulae stood as a backdrop with Etheria’s curve taking up most of the remaining real-estate. She frowned. The planet seemed to somehow mock her. A whole week, gone. And for all Glimmer knew, her friends could already be dead. Where were Bow and Adora and the other princesses? Fighting on the surface no doubt but were they okay? Were they safe?

“Whatever it is you’re thinking, it’s not going to work,” Catra said. “Horde Prime may have spared our lives, but that doesn’t mean his officers won’t retaliate if you do something to them.”

Glimmer clenched her jaw. “I’m not going to do anything to them,” she said.

“Liar. I can tell you’re planning something stupid this time because you’re pacing harder than normal.”

Glimmer rounded on her and snarled, pushing magic to her fists. But no magic came, and the stark reminder she was too far away from Etheria’s surface to use any of it slapped her in the face. Catra leveled her with a placid, unfazed expression atop the bed, and Glimmer deflated.

Catra had saved her life not once, but twice since they had gotten stuck up on Horde Prime’s citadel. She couldn’t remember much of what happened, just that, one day, she woke in the infirmary instead of the cell. The nurses, fragile, spindly looking aliens all of them, filled her in: Her body had gone into shock, likely as an aftereffect of her activating the Heart and it shoving a great amount of magic through her all at once. Her body wasn’t prepared to handle it, and if it weren’t for Catra, dozens of towels, and bowls of cold water from their shared bathroom keeping her from overheating, she likely would have died.

“She wouldn’t stop whining at the camera in there,” one of the nurses had said, faint disdain on its blunted features. “It was so incessant and annoying that someone was sent to check and they brought you to us.”

Glimmer took a deep breath and centered herself. Catra cocked an eyebrow at her and Glimmer tried for the hundredth time to picture her dragging her into the bathroom and taking care of her. Catra barely looked functional herself, like she’d immediately collapse under her own weight from weakness the moment she stood up. Imagining this person taking care of her wasn’t just an inability to believe a former enemy had actually helped her, it was a logistical problem too.

“Can you at least stop pacing?” Catra asked. “It’s driving me insane. Really.”

Glimmer massaged her face until her scowl loosened up, pulled out one of the chairs pushed under their shared table in the center of the room, and sat. As much as she wanted to squeeze the life out of Catra’s body with her own two hands for being so dang _annoying_ , she fought to give her the benefit of the doubt. If sitting rather than pacing helped ease Catra’s frustration, well then Glimmer would oblige. They were enemies, but she was indebted and wanted to dig herself out from under that debt as soon as possible.

“Thank you,” Catra said.

The doors to their cell slid open just as Glimmer grunted out a response, and she immediately stood and whirled around to face whoever had come. She had rehearsed this moment in her head time and time again. Now it was time to act. Except, her willingness to do so seeped out of her as soon as she saw who had come: four clones stepped in, two holding a tray of food each and two flanking them as extra security.

It had always been actual aliens, Horde Officers of various races and genders, that had brought their food and done their wellness checks. But never the clones. In fact, she had only ever seen them the one time in the throne room when they first arrived. To say she was surprised to see not one, but four of them step into their room with their afternoon rations was an understatement. Even Catra, finally sitting up in the bunk with her hair all matted, seemed surprised.

“Lord Prime will come for you soon,” the first clone said, stepping forward. He made a show of craning his neck and glancing behind Glimmer at Catra. “Your friend has not eaten since arriving. She must be presentable when Lord Prime comes for you. He would not like the idea that our honored guests are in such a disheveled state. It would reflect poorly on him as host.”

“If he doesn’t want to be seen as a poor host, then maybe he shouldn’t lock his ‘honored guests’ in a cell aboard his ship.” Glimmer stood as straight as she could and put her best approximation of a ‘Queenly demeanor’ in her voice.

The clone, three heads taller than her and staring nearly straight down, blinked once with a vacant expression on its face. It slid around her and placed the tray on the table. “If she will not eat, then we will make her. It will not be pleasant.”

The clone carrying the second tray of food followed suit. All four of them then swept out of the room before Glimmer could decide whether to chance her original plan, and the door hissed shut behind them.

Glimmer stared at the trays in front of them. Everything there looked foreign to her with no native Etherian dishes—not that she expected there to be any. Fortunately, Glimmer could at least mentally categorize each of them based off their taste and texture: some kind of meat, a vegetable medley, and a type of sweet dessert. Thankfully all the food they had eaten thus far had sat well with their stomachs too.

Well, her stomach at least. She finally looked over to Catra and found her exactly how she expected her to be: curled up on the bed now the clones had left, shivering under the covers, facing the wall with her back toward her. Glimmer hadn’t seen Catra move from that position since she had returned from the med bay, and despite her inability to tell exact time aboard the ship, she knew at least a day or two had passed since then.

Glimmer sighed and prepared herself for an uphill battle. “Food is here Catra, come over and eat.” When Catra didn’t stir, she rolled her eyes. “You can’t groan and whine about listening to me walk around the cell and then immediately after pretend not to hear me talking to you.”

Catra snorted and turned around. Her face was sunken and pale, her eyes bloodshot and sagging, and her fur stuck up in every which odd direction. “You weren’t walking, Sparkles, you were pacing. There’s a difference.”

Glimmer felt on the verge of bursting a vein. She picked up one of the trays to give her hands something to grasp aside from Catra’s scrawny neck and shuffled over to her. Catra eyed her as she did, fur puffing out in warning as she got closer.

“Come on, it’s time to eat,” Glimmer said, speaking through clenched teeth.

“Not hungry.”

“I didn’t ask if you were hungry, I said it’s time to eat.” Glimmer plonked the tray down on the nearby nightstand and dragged the whole thing over next to Catra on the bed. It screeched as if it were a live animal being dunked in scalding water, and the sound made Catra hiss with her ears pinned back flat against her head.

Glimmer didn’t try very hard to suppress her amusement at that. “Now, let’s eat. Okay?”

Catra narrowed her eyes at her and Glimmer swore she saw the moment the other girl decided to continue fighting her. Catra had her ‘shit-stirring persona’ down to a science. “What are you going to do if I say no? Force me?”

“Did you not hear what those clones just said? If they come back and see you still haven’t touched your food, they aren’t just going to take it away like before. They’re going to tie you down and force it down your gullet.”

“That’s kinda kinky,” Catra said, laughing, and Glimmer felt her hands inch toward the other girl’s neck. She only stopped when Catra’s gaze turned morose. “If I had to choose between you or the clones,” she said. “I would choose you.”

Glimmer blinked. “Excuse me?”

“Forcing me to eat. If it were between you or the clones, you’d probably be gentler, at least.”

Glimmer narrowed her eyes at her. Was she making another crude joke or trying to be sincere about how Glimmer wouldn’t hurt her? It was hard to tell with the way she jumped from one extreme to the other, and she almost asked before she saw the little smirk flit across Catra’s lips.

How the hell can she be making jokes at a time like this? She felt a perverse sense of glee overcome her as she realized something else: two could play that game.

“Are you sure about that?” she asked. “Bow has told me on numerous occasions that I roughhouse like his brothers. I _like_ him and I’m not all that gentle—just imagine what it’d be like for you.” A thought came to her. “How the heck are you still even alive? I don’t think I’ve seen you touch any food at all, and I’m pretty sure it’s been at least a week we’ve been here.”

Catra shrugged and spoke in a casual tone. “I have an efficient metabolism. Never ate much, even when we got double rations in the Horde.”

Glimmer chuckled at that and Catra joined her. She couldn’t believe it; they were bonding over being brats to each other. It was almost a nice feeling, until she suddenly remembered she was standing across from the person that essentially took her mother from her. She could sense the moment her features turned dark because Catra immediately stopped laughing and averted her eyes.

In an effort to distract herself, Glimmer reached over and speared some ‘meat’ and ‘vegetables’ with the fork on the tray holding it out for her. She fully intended to get into a shouting match if needed. Catra would eat, even if she came away with scars up and down her arms and a black eye. It wasn’t until Glimmer actually looked at Catra—really looked at her—that she saw how Catra had recoiled from her. Fear and terror danced in her eyes.

“Touch me and I swear I’ll claw your eyes out,” Catra said.

Adora had looked at Shadow Weaver that same way shortly after healing her with She Ra’s power. Her surprise visit to Bright Moon had shaken her, and Glimmer would never forget how her heart ached seeing her friend look so much like a cornered animal. Seeing that same look now directed at her calmed the anger threatening to boil over in Glimmer’s chest.

She placed the fork back on the tray and turned it so it was instead pointing handle-first in Catra’s direction. “If you won’t eat, then I won’t either,” she said as she made her way back to the table and sat, leaving Catra’s food within arm’s reach of the bunk.

“What?” The tip of Catra’s tail twitched and betrayed her unease.

“You heard me. If you won’t eat, neither will I.”

Catra groaned and ran her hands through her hair. “I told you I’m not hungry.”

“And I told you that I didn’t ask if you were hungry. You need to eat or else we’re both going to have something unpleasant done to us. Do you want those clones to come in here and force you to eat after all? Because I sure don’t.”

Glimmer wasn’t certain if Catra was about to attack or start crying by the way she looked at her until, finally, Catra turned her attention to her tray, picked up the fork with a shaky hand, and ate what Glimmer had speared for her in the first place.

“S’good,” Catra said. Her eyes darted down to the tray, as if noticing it for the first time. She dropped the fork with a clatter and instead started shoveling everything she could into her mouth as fast as possible. Glimmer couldn’t tell if she even took the time to chew before swallowing, only to make room for the next handful of food she had ready to cram into her face. A moment later and Catra’s entire platter was empty. Her eyes shot toward Glimmer’s tray, still sitting untouched in front of her on the table.

Glimmer didn’t miss how ravenous she looked. Catra must have caught the look of astonishment she was giving her because she immediately looked away, embarrassed, then covered that embarrassment with the darkest scowl Glimmer had seen her make yet. Despite herself, she found it almost endearing.

“Not hungry, huh?” She made sure to really push the teasing lilt in her voice, if only to unbalance Catra even further. “You know, someone else I know from the Horde had that exact same reaction the first time they ate real food.”

Catra’s scowl deepened. She hugged her knees close to her chest, like she thought it possible to disappear from view entirely if she made her body small enough. It wasn’t the reaction Glimmer was hoping for, and she immediately realized why what she said seemed to make Catra descend into self loathing rather than embarrassment: she was talking about Adora, but Adora was probably the last person Catra wanted to think about in that moment.

“Uhh…it was Scorpia!” Glimmer said. She didn’t know why she was suddenly trying to spare Catra’s feelings. “She came to us and the first time she tried strawberries I swear it was like she didn’t know something like that could exist in the first place. Frosta told me later that she didn’t know food came in sizes and textures other than ‘ration bar.’”

Catra softened at hearing that and Glimmer breathed a sigh of relief. “Scorpia’s with you?” she asked after a moment.

Glimmer weighed the many responses that flitted through her head before settling on one she thought was the best. “Yes, she is.”

“How is she?” Catra asked, curling tighter again. “Is she…happy?”

Glimmer softened, suddenly feeling…something—what, exactly, she wasn’t sure. “Yeah, I think she’s happy.”

Catra stayed silent, and Glimmer thought that was the end of their longest and deepest conversation yet, until…

“Good,” Catra said, voice quavering with her hands. “That’s good. I’m glad. She deserves that, to be happy… she deserves to be happy.”

Glimmer studied Catra. Was this the same person that only weeks ago they were kicking and punching and biting each other inside an exploding military base? Was this the same person she was ready to end on the ruined floors of the Fright Zone? She sighed and approached Catra once more, this time carrying her own tray of food. Catra eyed her with barely disguised apprehension until Glimmer tipped her tray toward Catra’s empty one and scraped half her meal onto it.

Catra’s eyes blew wide. “That’s your food.” She sounded as if she didn’t trust herself to speak at all.

“Nothing gets past you, does it?” Glimmer suppressed the urge to snort at the look of confusion on Catra’s face. “You need it more than me. Efficient metabolism or no, you haven’t eaten in far too long. I’d feel better if you made up for it by eating some of mine.”

“And you think that I want to do anything to help you feel better because why?”

Glimmer shrugged and said nothing. She went over to place her tray with its remaining food on a second nightstand, picked it up so it wouldn’t scrape across the ground, and waddled over and placed it opposite Catra’s own tray and nightstand. Then she grabbed the chair she was using earlier and sat down across from her at their makeshift table.

“You didn’t have to call for doctors when I was sick,” Glimmer said. She noticed how Catra immediately refused to look her in the eye when she spoke. “But you did it anyways. And even when no one came at first, you kept calling until they had no choice but to come.” She gestured to their trays and Catra followed her hands. “I don’t have to give you my food either, but I’m doing it for the same reason you helped me.”

“And what reason is that?” Catra had finally glanced up and locked eyes with her.

Glimmer wasn’t about to say it out loud, but Catra seemed to get that she didn’t need to in order to understand what that reason was.

“Stop being difficult and just eat it already,” Glimmer said. “Please.”

Another long moment hung in the air. Catra averted her eyes again and took a deep, sniveling breath. She brought her arm up and rubbed it back and forth across her face like she was trying to strip her skin raw. Then, in one quick motion, scooted forward, picked up the fork this time, and began spearing and slowly eating the extra food Glimmer had given her.

Opting to provide her at least a small chance to save face, Glimmer busied herself with her own food. Out of the corner of her eye she watched Catra alternate between eating and rubbing at her face. The occasional sniffle accompanied the sound of their utensils clacking on the tin.

She thought of her mother again. For the first time since being stuck in the same room as her, Glimmer didn’t feel the familiar tug of anger or resentment.

A smile spread across her face as another thought came to her, and she glanced at Etheria out the window: whatever her friends were doing down there, she hoped they were making the same kind of progress against the Emperor’s forces that she and Catra were making together up here with each other. If that were true, then it would only be a matter of time before they beat him. She had faith.

Prime stood no chance.


	2. Ultimatums

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One week later and this story is on like, the 13th page or so from the front. I love how active this fandom is! You all are awesome.

Dread gripped Adora’s heart as she stood atop one of the great spires at Bright Moon castle and looked out at the castle town below. Prime clones and Horde warbots combed the empty streets, stepping over rubble and through flaming debris in their search for hostages. Thankfully, the Rebellion had managed to move everyone inside the walls of the castle proper before any civilians were taken. Plumes of smoke rose in the lands beyond the town, likely from the scorched earth and scarred fields of the many villages and settlements in the distance Prime’s forces had already annihilated.

A sound built up overhead, like roaring thunder, and Adora looked up at a massive warship orbiting above. It was the source of all this destruction and chaos to begin with. Light from a cannon on its underside pulsed and illuminated the smooth surface of its hull. The cannon flashed, blinding bright, and a beam as large as one of the castle’s own turret towers shot from the belly of the ship and streaked toward them. It smashed into a massive magic shield separating them from the attacking enemy, and the cannon-fire dissipated across the dome, lighting up an intricate pattern of geodesic lines and kaleidoscope swirls that spanned the shield’s surface.

The ground shook with the impact of the blast and Adora grimaced. That warship was the sole reason their entire resistance had fallen, mere hours after returning with Bow. After defying Light Hope and breaking the Sword of Protection to stop the Heart of Etheria from firing, they both sped back to Bright Moon atop Swift Wind. That warship descended upon them almost immediately thereafter, spitting fire and beaming clone troops and killer bots to the surface to demolish and occupy everything in sight. It was a miracle the princesses and Elite Bright Moon guard had jumped into action as quickly and efficiently as they had. She didn’t even want to think about what would have happened if Micah and Shadow Weaver hadn’t worked together to erect that shield so quickly. It was probably the only thing successfully keeping the enemy forces at bay.

Another burst of fire from the ship and another rumble in the earth sent Adora clutching at her ribs in pain.

“Adora, you should really get that looked at,” King Micah said, standing next to her. “Please.”

“I can’t do that, sir,” Adora said.

A clone or warbot—she wasn’t sure which—had grazed her with blaster fire earlier, when she couldn’t get out of the way fast enough. She counted herself lucky to get away with what was likely just a bruise, since the final push to get civilians inside the castle walls had been a brutal fight. Her armor was ruined and she could no longer wear it, but at least she was alive.

“The next wave could come at any minute,” she said. “I have to be ready for it.”

“ _We_ have to be ready,” Micah said, “not just you. You should be able to take a break or go and get yourself examined if need be. The rest of us are here protecting the castle, too.”

Adora didn’t say anything. She really didn’t want to get into this right now and hoped Micah would let it go if she didn’t engage.

“The sword is broken and She Ra is gone for now,” he said. “You made the choice you thought was right in the moment and I don’t blame you for it in the slightest. But there’s no use in dwelling on that any longer.” He swept his hands at the wreckage and enemy soldiers on the other side of the barrier. “This is a fight we’ll have to win without her. I’ll need you in top shape if we’re to stand any chance.”

Adora opened her mouth to respond when Entrapta’s voice blared through the transceiver at Micah’s belt.

“We have a signal and we’re being hailed! It’s coming—oh gosh, it’s coming directly from Horde Prime’s citadel in orbit. It’s coming now! Hurry!”

Adora and Micah spared each other knowing glances before they both took off at a dead sprint down the spire’s stairs. Adora did what she could to keep her mind from spiraling. They raced down the hallway, passing huddles of refugees from the surrounding area and pockets of battered Bright Moon soldiers. Everyone looked so exhausted, and Adora had a feeling she wasn’t faring much better in their eyes either.

When they finally skidded around a sharp turn and burst through the high double doors into the castle’s war room, the princesses and Shadow Weaver were already there, huddled around a frantic Bow and manic Entrapta. The two of them worked furiously at a briefcase-sized device on the table. It was undoubtedly one of Entrapta’s creations, judging by its haphazard, jury-rigged appearance.

“Hurry!” Entrapta said to Bow. “You need to amplify the capture signal or we’re going to lose it!”

“Get the transmission up,” Micah said, striding in with a confidence that betrayed nothing of the fact he and Adora were sprinting like mad moments earlier.

Bow yanked at a handful of dials and knobs on the device and dashed over to a hole in the floor. Massive cables snaked from the box through the hole into the foundations of the castle underneath, and the sound of Bow exerting himself echoed out the moment he jumped inside. Entrapta keyed a few commands into the tablet she held in her left hand, furrowed her brow at the box when it apparently didn’t do what she was expecting it to, and pounded the top of the device once with a closed fist.

A life-sized hologram of Horde Prime flickered into existence next to them and bathed the room in a green light.

“Greetings, Etherians,” he said with his hands folded behind his back and a cool expression on his face. “I have come to negotiate terms of your surrender, for Prime is merciful, and the newest addition to our Galactic Empire should not suffer such bloodshed and destruction needlessly. Who among you has the authority to treat with an Emperor?”

A murmur of uncertainty spread through the group as the princesses looked at each other. Adora felt their eyes linger on her, then turn away. They didn’t mean anything by it. She knew they were just uncertain whether they should place such a burden on someone who had just lost She Ra at their most desperate hour, but that didn’t stop the pang of guilt that shot through her in response.

“I can speak with you,” Micah said, stepping forward. “I am Micah, King of Brightmoon. What terms of surrender do you propose?”

Horde Prime turned and regarded Micah with a genteel expression. The earlier murmur of uncertainty from the princesses turned into alarm, and Adora looked at Micah as if to say _what the heck are you doing_? He was talking to her of winning the battle without She Ra not even moments earlier. Why all of a sudden did he seem to jump at the chance to talk of surrender?

Except, the look Micah returned to her suggested something else was at play. Prime spoke then of unconditional surrender and an immediate vacating of the castle. He wanted them to march out beyond the magic shield with arms behind their heads. Micah instead countered with questions about guaranteeing their safety. It wasn’t long before Adora realized what he was doing: he was stalling. Purposefully.

Adora didn’t think, she just moved. They had to capitalize on Micah’s distraction—come up with a plan of some sort.

“Entrapta,” she said, shuffling around Prime toward her and gritting her teeth, trying to eke out the syllables without moving her lips. “Can you get the transmission’s coordinates?”

Entrapta looked up at her with a confused expression. “It’s coming from Horde Prime’s citadel? You know, since that’s where he is?”

“No that’s not what I—“ Adora sighed and suppressed the urge to turn on Entrapta and shake her right then and there. “We need to know where on that station he’s broadcasting from. Can you work your magic and get us the _exact_ coordinates of the transmission?”

Realization dawned on Entrapta’s face. “Ohhhh, yeah I can get that. It will take a moment so make sure you keep him talking.”

Adora was about to point out that’s exactly what Micah was already doing, but Entrapta had already turned and was busy tapping commands into her data-pad and adjusting the knobs and dials on the projector. Adora and the princesses exchanged wide-eyed looks of horror as she worked. Prime only had to turn around, and he would see they were up to something.

Fortunately, Micah was doing a wonderful job irritating the Emperor with increasingly ludicrous questions about their surrender.

“All I’m asking is who is going to pay for repairs to the castle town and surrounding countryside?” he said. “My people have no homes, and their livelihoods have been erased because of the consequences of the invasion.”

Micah gestured with strong, sweeping motions of his arms as he spoke. Adora couldn’t help but feel impressed at how convincingly he led Horde Prime around by the nose with his tangents. For someone who had been stuck for years on Beast Island and proclaimed to not be used to speaking, he was doing a damn good job of it right when they needed him.

_The same can’t be said for you and She Ra, though._ The thought came uninvited to her head, and she pushed it out. She had to focus.

“Not to mention the cost of rebuilding the other kingdoms,” Micah said. “If the level of destruction in Bright Moon is indicative of how the other domains are faring, then it is safe to say we as a planet cannot fund our own rebuilding effort. Not fully, anyway, and not without significant stagnation in our global economy. Our ability to thrive as a subject under your rule would be severely hampered.”

One of the extra eyes on Horde Prime’s face twitched, and his lips tugged upward in a snarl. “You will leave those details to me. The Empire will decide how best to help you rebuild and integrate. All you and your band of holdouts need concern yourselves with is vacating your castle and letting my forces take custody of it and of you.”

“Yes, but what if—“

“Enough!” Horde Prime seemed to grow even taller in his fury. He balled his fists at his side and the tendrils on his head coiled like dancing snakes. “You are beaten, King of Bright Moon. Do you not realize this? You and your castle are the last resistance still standing on your planet. You will surrender peacefully or you will all die, but you will not be standing come morning.”

The room stilled and Prime relaxed, uncurling his fists and combing his fingers through his tendril-hairs with a deep breath through the nose. “I have grown to appreciate the benefits of negotiating peace as opposed to long conquests and their brutality. I had hoped to extend the same offer for peaceful surrender to your people, but that seems to have unintentionally emboldened you. Maybe this will help you understand.” Prime gestured and an image fizzled to life in the space next to him. When they recognized what the image was, everyone in the room gasped.

It was surveillance video of a single, sanitary-white room. One bunk bed was shoved into the wall, and a table with chairs sat in the center. The camera was placed high in the corner, judging by the perspective. Catra was standing underneath, looking directly up at them, eyes wide with fear and hair sticking out every which direction. She looked skinnier and was yelling something repeatedly at the camera, although Adora couldn’t tell what, since there was no sound. Glimmer lay on the bottom bunk, clearly not doing well. Was she dead? Is that why Catra looked so panicked?

An icy feeling seized Adora by the gut and she forced herself to look away. Instead, she glanced at her friends. The princesses all looked shocked, and Bow had stepped forward with a murderous glint in his eyes. King Micah, on the other hand, held his hand out like he had tried to reach through the image to pull his daughter through to him. He looked absolutely devastated. Heartbroken.

Entrapta flagged Adora down with exaggerated movements of her hair and, somehow, Prime still hadn’t caught on. _I have the coordinates_ , she mouthed soundlessly to her. Adora nodded. A fire felt like it had suddenly lit itself inside her.

“Ah, it seems that did indeed get your attention,” Prime said to Micah. “You have no power to negotiate in this exchange. You will surrender to my forces outside your castle immediately.”

“No, we will not,” Adora said.

Everyone turned to her in surprise. Prime blinked once, twice. He looked like he didn’t quite trust what he heard.

“Say that again?” he asked.

Adora took a step forward and pushed her chin out at him. Prime was several heads taller than her, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t make him feel like _she_ was the one looking down on him. “I said no. We will not be surrendering. You will return Glimmer and Catra to us immediately or there will be hell to pay.”

“Oh? And who are you? Your King must truly be daring if he allows his subjects to make such demands in his stead.”

“I am Adora, Princess of Power. If you do not return Queen Glimmer and Catra to us at once, then we will come for them ourselves. I’m warning you, Horde Prime…if you’ve done anything to them, anything at all, then I will make you pay. On this I swear as a citizen of Bright Moon, and as She Ra of Etheria.”

Horde Prime crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at her. “Hm.” His holographic figure stuttered, then disappeared entirely, leaving them alone in the war room.

“He cut the signal,” Entrapta said.

Adora immediately went to Micah who was shaking with wide eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he said, forcing himself to calm down. “I saw her there in the back and I just…I just froze.”

‘It’s okay, sir,” Adora said. She beckoned to the others who hurried over to comfort him. “We were all shocked to see that too, but you haven’t seen Glimmer in years. I can’t imagine trying to keep a clear head if I were in your shoes. I could barely keep it together as is.”

Micah flashed her a grateful look.

“This does beg the question though,” said a voice off to the side. Shadow Weaver, who up to that point had remained quiet in the corner, glided toward them. “What do we do, now that you have taken any chance of negotiation unequivocally off the table?”

Adora felt another piece in her plan fall into place and smiled. “You’ve teleported before, haven’t you? Twice, each over long distances if I remember correctly. The first when you came to Bright Moon from the Fright Zone, and the second when you, Bow, and Glimmer all came to rescue me.”

Shadow Weaver gave her a skeptical look. “Indeed, I did use a teleportation spell for each of those instances, and for others. I feel I must warn you—whatever it is you are thinking in your head of doing, teleporting is not easy nor straightforward. It’s incredibly difficult.”

Adora nodded, “I understand that, but it’s going to be difficult regardless if we intend to do anything other than give up. Entrapta pulled the coordinates from Prime’s broadcast. The exact coordinates.”

Entrapta’s eyes lit up. She seemed to suddenly piece together what Adora was getting at. “Those coordinates should not only just tell us where on the ship he is, but where exactly in space he is. XYZ coordinates. If we combine that with a teleportation spell, then—“

“Then we can teleport right in front of him and take him out.” Micah said, finishing her sentence with a nod. “It would be incredibly difficult, and we’d have to get it exactly right, but…” he glanced at Shadow Weaver, who looked like she very much didn’t want to go ahead with that plan but couldn’t find a good reason to refuse. “We should be able to do it.”

“Good,” Adora said and all eyes turned back to her. “Entrapta, you work with King Micah and Shadow Weaver on getting us there, by any means necessary. As soon as you give us the green light we’ll go.”

“This sounds awfully like a suicide mission to me,” Mermista said, looking at the other princesses, likely to gauge how many of them felt the same as her. “If we screw this up at all, even slightly, we’re done. No more Princess Alliance, no more princesses. Possibly no more Etheria.”

“That’s already going to happen if we don’t do anything at all,” Adora said. “I understand the hesitation, but think about if this works. We’ll be able to get right in front of Prime without him even expecting it and grab him, either for ransom or something else. We should probably decide what to do with him before we go, but either way: if this works, we can turn this invasion on its head with one swift stroke.”

There was another low murmur through the group, but Adora didn’t hear any consensus around rejecting her plan.

“Uhh, guys?” Bow said. He had made his way to the war room’s general controls during their discussion, and was looking at the reading on the console with a nervous expression. “You should take a look at this.” He punched a few commands into the console and a large screen in the room blinked to life.

Multiple surveillance videos splayed across the monitor showed fresh clones pushing through the barrier like they were wading through molasses, regrouping in ordered formations on the inside. Other video feeds showed additional troops, and now tanks and armored vehicles, materializing on the outside of the barrier, beamed in from the warship overhead. They too pushed through the barrier and formed up with their fellows on the other side.

“Battle stations everyone,” Adora said. “We’ve got another assault!”

The rest of the princesses sprinted out the war room and to their respective posts. Bow punched another command into the system and a siren blared in the distance, warning the guards to gear up and join them outside.

“Entrapta, Shadow Weaver, Micah, you three know what to do,” Adora said. “Let us know as soon as you’re ready. And please, hurry!” The three of them nodded, and Adora rushed off to join the others in battle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for your comments and feedback last chapter. See you all next Thursday!


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